[Civil War - USMA]1861 Telegram from D.S. Gregory Jr. Brigadier Inspector at West Point Military Academy Warning Major Henry of Southern Cadets Smuggling Arms Jersey City, NJ, 1861. Single Sheet. Very Good. A dramatic moment in U.S. Army history, the Civil War's division of North and South at the Academy - the Brigadier excitedly writing of "...Forty odd Southern Cadets from West Point left here...with carpet bags supposed to contain small arms..."; dated May 7, 1861, sent from Jersey City. On the verso, Major Henry has drafted his reply in pencil; "Chief Ruggles will send upon arrival of boat a squad of officers and will make proper examination. All arms found on person or in carpet bags ... will be detained. Alex Henry Major." West Point was a nexus of North and South during the Civil War. General Beauregard was briefly the superintendent of the Academy, and left that post when Louisiana, his home state, left the Union. He was the first brigadier general in the Confederate States Army, and commanded the defenses of Charleston, South Carolina, at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Cadets were forced to take sides against fellow West Pointers, most notably Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. Printed form on letterhead of "The Magnetic Telegraph Company. Morse Line" , with addresses of the telegraphic offices and the terms and conditions of the messages sent below; message and addressees all written in a very legible hand in ink; approx. 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" size; old fold lines; light wear; in very good condition and revealing of the fears of the Union North as Southern defectors departed for home and the cause of the Confederacy, as well as being a significant reminder of the importance of the science of telegraphy and quick communication in the war between the States.

TILLEY, Henry Arthur.Japan, The Amoor and The Pacific. London; Smith, Elder and Co. 1861. First edition. Large 8vo. 405pp. Bound in publisher's embossed bottle green cloth, titled and decorated in gilt to spine. Blindtamped borders to boards. Mudie's Library label affixed to upper front board. Scuffed and bumped to extremities, with some fraying and parting of the cloth to the spine ends. Bumped to corners and with a 1cm strip of loss to the foredge of the front board, nevertheless shows quite nicely and is strong and durable enough to merit the description "Very Good." Internally clean with a few thumb marks here and there. Glazed yellow endpapers. Engraved frontis. Illustrated with attractive full page plates depicting sights seen during a circumnavigation in the Russian corvette "Rynda."

Thomas CrossThe Autobiography of a Stage-Coachman (complete in three volumes) London: Hurst and Blackett, 1861. First Edition First Printing . Hardcover. Near Fine/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. These three books are clean, tight, square with very good corners and unmarked. They are very lightly rubbed. they have marbled end papers and 311, 312, 292, minimally toned pages plus ads. They are bound in gilt lined three-quarter red leather on the corners and spines. The spines have five raised bands with gilt tooled designs (among them horns and horseshoes) in the panels and gilt titles on darker backgrounds. Each book has a tissue guarded frontispiece. They were bound by Rivere & Son for Henry Southeran of Piccadilly. The boards are covered in red cloth.

DUYCKINCK, Evert A.NATIONAL HISTORY WAR FOR THE UNION: CIVIL, MILITARY, NAVAL. 3 VOLUMES 1861 - DUYCKINCK, Evert A. NATIONAL HISTORY OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION, CIVIL, MILITARY AND NAVAL. Three Volumes. NY: Johnson, Fry And Company, [1861]. Thick small folios, brown quarter-morocco leather with finely-pebbled boards, five raised-bands on spine with gilt lettering. Profusely illustrated with engravings after Alonzo Chappel and Thomas Nast. Very Good (bit of rubbing & occasional small stain covers). Overall, a very nice set. $500.00 [Postage Extra- weighs 13 pounds]. [Attributes: Hard Cover]

Petherick, JohnEgypt, the Soudan, and Central Africa; with Explorations from Khartoum on the White Nile to the Region of the Equator being Sketches from Sixteen Years' Travels Blackwood, Edinburgh 1861 - folding map, xii, 482p. plus 4p. solicitation of subscriptions to support expeditions by Petherick and Speke to discover the source of the Nile which is tipped to front free endpaper and 16p. publisher's advertisement bound in after the folding map. Original cloth. 23cm. Backstrip faded as is a wrinkled area on front cover where a library label was probably removed. Relatively minor chipping at ends of backstrip. Ex lib. (stamps on endpaper and back of title-leaf -- possibly elsewhere). Endpapers cracked at hinges. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

Henry Sumner MaineAncient Law 1861 - Maine, Henry Sumner. Ancient Law: its connection with the early history of society, and its relation to modern ideas. London, John Murray, 1861. vi+[contents with errata on verso]+415 pages. First edition, brick publisher&#146;s cloth with chip at bottom of spine, some fraying at top. (see photo). Interior fine. Shipping $8.00 domestic, $40.00 international. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

Ives, Joseph ChristmasReport Upon the Colorado River of the West, Explored in 1857 and 1858 by Lieutenant Joseph C. Ives, Corps of Topographical Engineers, Under the Direction of the Office of Explorations and Surveys, A.A. Humphreys, Captain Topographical Engineers, in Charge. By Order of the Secretary of War. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1861. 36th Congress, 1st Session. Hardcover. 131+14+154+30+[7]+31 pp. (in five parts with appendices). Quarto [29 cm] Rebound in grained black buckram with gilt stamped title on the backstrip. Both maps present at front of volume. Both maps have six inch closed tears. Very good. Faint rubbing to corners. May require extra shipping charges due to weight. &#11;This is the first book to deal with the Colorado River specifically. The Ives report is also one of the first descriptions of the Grand Canyon (Big Canon of the Colorado), and of the area's native inhabitants. Ives expedition predated John Wesley Powell's expedition by a decade. Complete with all plates, maps, wood cuts and panoramic views. Includes seven colored plates of the Indians of the southwest. "...the report is one of the most desirable books in the Colorado River field" - Francis P. Farquhar. Howes I94. Wagner/Camp 375. Wheat 947-948. Farquhar 21

Rosti, PálUTI EMLÉKEZETEK AMERIKÁBÓL Pest: Kiadja Heckenast Gusztav, 1861. [6],198,[2]pp. printed in double columns, including in- text illustrations, plus sixteen plates, consisting of twelve tinted lithographs, color lithograph frontispiece and titlepage, one engraved plate, and one further color plate. Half title. Folio. Original three-quarter red morocco and cloth boards, spine gilt. Boards rubbed and slightly soiled. Corners and spine extremities worn, hinges reinforced. Contemporary ownership inscription on printed title page. Light foxing and tanning to text, plates with light dampstaining along top edge. Very good. A rare Hungarian account of a tour through the Caribbean, Mexico, and Latin America, lavishly illustrated with lithographs. Pál Rosti (1830-74), a Hungarian naturalist and pioneering photographer in Latin America, visited the Americas between 1856 and 1858, retracing the steps of Alexander Humboldt. His experiences are recorded in this wonderfully illustrated account. Rosti's observations contain useful documentation on social history, natural sciences, and ethnology. His visit to Venezuela was the first photographic register of the country. Humboldt visited Rosti to see the first photograph taken of the Samán de Güere and exclaimed that the tree was the same as when he and Bonpland had seen it some sixty years earlier in 1800. Humboldt died a few days later. The plates include a scene in the Plaza de Armas in Havana, a fine view of Caracas, Venezuelans at rest in the rain forest, the small village of San Juan de los Morros, and bamboo plants in Trinidad. The Mexican illustrations include the Plateau of Puebla, the Ravine of Santa Maria with the Orizava volcano in the distance, a large cathedral in Mexico City, Mount Popocatepetl, and the village of Pachuca. The several in-text illustrations add much in the way of details of the flora and fauna of the region, as well as local dress and customs. Rare and informative, with wonderful plates. PALAU 279201.

(Gorillas) Du Chaillu, Paul B Exploration and Adventures in Equatorial Africa. With Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People and of the Chace of the Gorilla, Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopotamus, and Other Animals New York: Harper & Brothers, 1861. First American edition. Illustrated with 71 plates, including folding frontispiece of Gorilla and folding map at back. xxii, [23]-531, [4, ads] pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Bound in Publisher's Half brown calf and marbled boards, marbled edges, head and tail slightly chipped. First American edition. Illustrated with 71 plates, including folding frontispiece of Gorilla and folding map at back. xxii, [23]-531, [4, ads] pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Harper Family Copy. The most celebrated work by Paul Du Chaillu (1835-1903), the explorer whose travels in Central Africa documented the existence of the "Monstrous and ferocious ape, the gorilla." This first expedition into Central Africa, supported by the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, commenced in 1856 and lasted close to four years and covered 8,000 miles. He amassed an amazing collection of rare birds and animals, and made several important discoveries about the rivers of the region. His "Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa" (1861) was initially greeted with ridicule, but his discoveries were confirmed and he was established as an expert on the region. After another expedition in 1863, he settled in America to lecture and write about Africa. All of his books "are very readable and contain interesting, lively descriptions which indicate a keen sense of observation on the part of the author" (DAB).

Henry Mayhew.London Labour and the London Poor; Cyclopaedia of the Condition and Earnings of Those that Will Work, Those that Cannot Work, and Those that Will Not Work. London: Griffin, Bohn, and Co. 1861 - 1861-2. 4 vols. 8vo. All illustrated with numerous illustrations from photographs. I: [8], iv, 492,[2] pp. With 28 full page illustrations. II: [8], 512 pp. With 28 full page illustrations. III: [10], 442 pp. With 26 full page illustrations. IV: (With introductory essay on the agencies at present in operation in the metropolis for the suppression of vice and crime by the Rev. William Tuckniss, B.A.). [2], xl, 504 pp. With 16 full page illustrations and 15 maps and associated tables. In the publisher's purple wave-grain cloth, gilt-stamped to spines and front boards. teg. Spines sunned as usual, and all volumes neatly re-backed. Publisher's original prospectus loosely inserted. Henry Mayhew (25 Nov. 1812 &#150; 25 July 1887) was an English social researcher, journalist, playwright and advocate of reform. He was one of the co-founders of the satirical and humorous magazine Punch in 1841, and was the magazine's joint-editor, with Mark Lemon, in its early days. He is also known for his work as a social researcher, publishing an extensive series of newspaper articles in the Morning Chronicle that was later compiled into &#147;London Labour and the London Poor&#148;. Initially collected into three volumes in 1851; the 1861 edition included a fourth volume, co-written with Bracebridge Hemyng, John Binny and Andrew Halliday, on the lives of prostitutes, thieves and beggars. This extra volume took a more general and statistical approach to its subject than the previous ones. [Attributes: Hard Cover]

CIVIL WAR WICKS H.H.G.Civil War Diary , 1861. 1861. (CIVIL WAR) WICKS, H.H.G. Civil War Diary. No place: no publisher, [1862]. Small octavo (measures 3-3/4 by 5-3/4 inches), original full black morocco, wallet-flap portfolio closure. $4000.Rare October 1862-May 1863 Civil War diary by Sergeant H.H.G. Wicks of Company B of the 25th New Jersey Volunteers, who was involved in front-line action during the important Battle of Fredericksburg, December 11-15

ROSSINI, Gioachino 1791-1868Sémiramis Opéra en Quatre Actes... avec Illustrations, Points d'Orgue, Texte Italien et Traducion Française de Méry Prix net: 20 francs. [Piano-vocal score] Paris: Heugel et Cie. [PN H. 2649], [1860-1861]. Large octavo. 19th century dark red morocco-backed cloth boards with blindstamped panels to both boards, upper with a lyre device and the initials "J.M." gilt, raised bands on spine in decorative compartments gilt, titling gilt. 1f. (half-title), 1f. (recto blank, verso lithographic portrait of Rossini by Aug. Lemoine printed by Bertauts in Paris after the 1860 photograph by Numa Blanc), 1f. (recto lithographic portrait of Rossini by Aug. Lemoine printed by Bertauts in Paris after the 1920 painting by Mayer), 1f. (recto title, verso named cast list), 1f. (recto thematic index, verso blank), 4 full-page lithographic plates of scenes from the opera, 396 pp. Lithographed. Text in Italian and French. A presentation copy, with an autograph inscription signed "a Monsieur et Madame G. [?et J. Mery] G. Rossini Passy 1861" to half-title. The initials "J.M." to the upper board may indicate that the score was presented by the composer to the translator Joseph Méry (1797-1866).Cast list notes singers in the first performance of the work in Paris at the Imperial Academy of Music on July 4, 1860 as Carlotta Marchisio as Sémiramis, Barbara Marchisio as Arsace, Bengraf as Azéma, Obin as Assur, Coulon as Oroes, Dufrène as Idrène, and Fréret as Nino's ghost, and dancers in the ballet by Petipa as Parent, Baratte, Lamy, Segaud, Poiret, Beaugrand, Zina and Chapuy.The four illustrative plates of scenes from the opera by Belin & Bethmont printed by Bertauts in Paris depict the entrance of Sémiramis to Babylon ("Babylone - Cortège de Sémiramis" from Act I); the Hanging Gardens with the Dance of the Assyrians ("Les Jardins Suspendus - Pas Assyrien" from Act II); the duet of Semiramis and Arsace in the palace ("Palais de Sémiramis - Duo de Sémiramis et Arsace" from Act III; and Assur at the tomb of Ninus ("Assur au Tombeau de Ninus" from Act IV). Binding slightly worn; tips of corners slightly rubbed. Somewhat browned; minor foxing; two small edge tears.A portion of the inscription has been cut away and part of the letter "G" and the words "et J. Mery" reconstituted in pencil, with paper repairs made to corresponding area of both recto and verso of the leaf. A previous owner has concluded that the inscription is to the translator Joseph Méry and his wife (in all likelihood based on the initials to the upper board), however this connection cannot be firmly substantiated. Gossett 15. "This is the adaptation prepared by Carafa." Gossett p. 490. Sémiramis, to a libretto by Gaetano Rossi after Voltaire's Sémiramis, was first performed in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice on February 3, 1823. It was Rossini's last opera composed in Italian. This French version was first performed in Marseille on April 1, 1854 and again in Paris at the Opéra on July 9, 1860 (Loewenberg col. 687). "With Semiramide, Rossini brought his Italian career to a spectacular close. After a series of operas in which the primary areas of interest were either vocal or architectural, Rossini once again drew vocal, dramatic, and architectural elements into harmony with one another. The strategic planning is formidable, with an opening movement of over 700 bars and an Act 1 finale of over 900 bars; the work points directly forward to the huge structural spans of Guillaume Tell (1829). The Semiramide story, popular with composers of the period, is to some extent locked into an 18th-century Metastasian aesthetic, and Rossini has yet to rid himself of the travesti contralto hero. But his treatment of key scenes has great musico-dramatic impact, far removed from the kind of musical tinsel served up by Marcos António Portugal in his La morte di Semiramide (1801) where vocal display obscures the thrust of those archetypal relationships and situations which Rossini's music powerfully engages." Richard Osborne in Grove Music Online.

CIVIL WAR WICKS H.H.G.Civil War Diary 1861. (CIVIL WAR) WICKS, H.H.G. Civil War Diary. No place: no publisher, [1862]. Small octavo (measures 3-3/4 by 5-3/4 inches), original full black morocco, wallet-flap portfolio closure. $4000.Rare October 1862-May 1863 Civil War diary by Sergeant H.H.G. Wicks of Company B of the 25th New Jersey Volunteers, who was involved in front-line action during the important Battle of Fredericksburg, December 11-15Â—a significant Union defeatÂ—and the April-May lifting of the Confederate siege of Suffolk, Virginia.Wicks' diary begins October 20, 1863, in Washington DC, where Wicks mentions visiting the Smithsonian. Shortly after his regiment marched to Fairfax Cemetery, where they made camp. By November 20 the order comes to ""be ready at a moment's notice."" His diary faithfully records typical daily activities and soldierly concerns: the weather, drills, reviews, inspection, dress parade, picket duty, illnesses, marches, striking and pitching tents, and chances to wash, eat, receive letters from his wife, and enjoy liberties. By December 2 the regiment began marching south, and Wicks switched to recording his diary in pencil.They arrived near Fredericksburg by December 10: ""This night the pontoon bridges was laid across the Rappahanock."" Then on the next day, ""At 6 o'clock this morning the fighting commenced at FredericksburgÂ… We are now General Sumner's DivisionÂ… Hour folks has bin a shelling the town all day."" December 11 he can hear the artillery, and then December 12 he and his regiment are called into front-line duty: ""This morning had orders to fall in and we all lade on hour harms [our arms]. All day heavy fighting all day a great many boath killed and wounded. At dark orders were given to march into the battle field and we got in about 7 o'clock and there was several of hour rigament boath killed and wounded and then fell back into the sitty and lade on hour arms for the night."" The next day he writes ""Mostly quiet today not mutch firing from eather side the Rebels throwing up entrenchments all the time. Seven wounded out of hour company in the fight last nightÂ… yet there is now about two hundred thousand troops here nowÂ… in a line of battle all day put gardsÂ… for the first time for four days and nights I had a good night rest."" The next day he returned from picket duty to find ""all hour troops left the town and we started for hour old camp and got lost in the woods and four of us fell out of hour company together."" He and his fellows caught up to his regiment the next day, noting, ""the rebels all back in the City again this morning every thing quietÂ… no fighting again on there this day hour men started over with a flag of trus [truce] to bury hour dead."" The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11-15, 1862, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Major General Ambrose Burnside, who ordered Major Generals Edwin Sumner and Joseph Hooker to make multiple frontal assaults against General Longstreet's position on Marye's Heights, and the Union forces were driven back after suffering heavy losses.On December 19 Wicks writes, ""Everything all quiet about Fredericksburg and it is so said that McClellan has got back to the Army again."" The fighting had ceased, but the regiment remained near the Rappahanock, and on Christmas he writes, ""Had for my Christmas dinner beef soupÂ… can see the rebels camp from where we are."" Wicks fell ill in January, and heavy weather seemed to keep them in camp until February 7, when they relocated to Newport News. On March 8 he notes, ""This day assigned the duties of orderly."" He then writes of the lifting of the Confederate siege of Suffolk, presumably at a later date, ""The Rebs commenced the attack on Suffolk the 11 day of April 1863Â… on the 18th capt 129 rebs and a battery 5 guns."" He then goes on, ""In the battle in front of Suffolk Monday May the 3 1863 started from camp at 7 o'clock in the morning and went down to Suffolk and crossed the [Nansemond] River and throughout as skirmishers with the 103 N York and 89 N York in hour Regament there were one killed and 11 wounded. The chaplain was wounded so that he died next day. Sergt Skinner was shot through the head and killed instantly we drove the enemy and returned two hour camp at 12 o'clock at night. The reconnaissance was continued the next day by Corcoran's Legions and drove them out to the black water."" The Siege of Suffolk lasted from April 11 to May 4, 1863. Wicks' final entry is dated May 11, 1863. Portions are written in faint pencil, though still legible; the last several leaves are in a heavier script showing some smudging, though also still legible. With six pages of company rolls recorded in the back of the book, as well as a few sums and other lists. From the Denis E. Reen collection, with his bookmark laid in.Expected wear to binding, particularly at wallet flap and spine head, some inkstaining to text. A very good Civil War diary by a soldier who participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Letcher, John]Journal of the House of Delegates of the State of Virginia, for the Extra Session, 1861 [bound with] Doc. No. 1, Message of the Governor of Virginia and Accompanying Documents William F. Ritchie, Richmond 1861 - 8vo, pp. 321; lv. A near fine copy; recently rebound in quarter cloth with marbled boards, leather spine label. Records the proceedings of the Virginia House of Delegates from January 7 to April 4, 1861-that is, in the months leading up to Virginia's secession from the Union on April 17thof that year. Although primarily concerned with routine matters of state legislation and appropriations, this volume also offers a fascinating glimpse of the deliberations that occurred as other southern states seceded and Virginians wrestled with conflicting impulses to help preserve the Union and to assert their common interests with the seceders. On the very first day of the session, the assembly resolved "that the Union being formed by the assent of the sovereign states respectively, and being consistent only with freedom and republican institutions guaranteed to each, cannot and ought not to be maintained by force. That the government of the Union has no power to declare or make war against any of the states which have been its constituent members.that when any one or more of the states has determined or shall determine, under existing circumstances, to withdraw from the Union, we are unalterably opposed to any attempt on the part of the federal government to coerce the same into reunion or submission, and that we will resist the same by all means in our power." Just a few days later (January 15), they appointed commissioners "to open a correspondence with the governments of all the states, to ascertain on what terms, if upon any, the Union can be preserved; and if it cannot, then upon what terms and with what states a new confederacy can be formed, which will secure to the people the full enjoyment of all their rights." The January 7th address of Governor John Letcher which appears at the end of the volume offers a lengthy and interesting analysis of the relations between the states and the federal government, grievances of the southern states against the north, and considerations for Virginia in charting its path forward. Letcher condemned South Carolina for taking action without consulting the other slaveholding states, but also opposed allowing Federal troops to move through Virginia to suppress the rebellion. He called for a national convention to discussion options for compromise, optimistic that concessions could be won on issues such as the expansion of slavery into the territories and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act. A month after he delivered his address, delegates from 14 free states and 7 slaveholding states met at the Washington Peace Conference of 1861, but the compromises they recommended failed to win approval in Congress. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

FORESTIER, Jean-Claude-Nicolas.Jardins: carnet de plans et de dessins. Paris, Émile-Paul frères, 1920. Royal 4to (33 x 26.5 cm). With an engraved garden scene on the front wrapper and more than 100 drawings and plans printed from line blocks, many full-page. Black morocco presentation binding, gold-tooled, with the original publisher's wrappers. - Not in Kew Lib. Cat. on-line; Springer, Bibl. Overzicht. A French bibliophile and hortophile publication, with the author's numerous large plans and drawings of gardens that range from 300 to 5000 square metres. One of 45 copies "sur grand papier d'Arches." Forestier (1861-1930) presented it in 1924 to the "futur professeur" J.M. Duvernay. Binding good, with the front wrapper slightly dirty and with a small abrasion, and the morocco binding worn at the back hinge and the corners. Presentation copy, in very good condition, of a lovely garden book, with numerous large drawings and plans.

Eliot, GeorgeSilas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London 1861 - First edition, second state of this important work in English literature. There is overall wear to the boards, especially to the extremities, and a bit of discoloration to the front surface. The hinges are intact externally. The gilt stamping is intact.The binding is slightly cocked. The interior is clean and unmarked and shows minor age-darkening to the pages. Interior front hinge is narrowly cracked. Sixteen pages of ads at the back of the book. This copy comes housed in a well-made, attractive clamshell box which is in fine condition. Overall a desirable copy. Sorry, no international shipping. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

MAY ThomasConstitutional History of England 1861. First Edition . MAY, Thomas Erskine. The Constitutional History of England Since the Accession of George the Third 1760-1860. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1861-63. Two volumes. Thick octavo, contemporary full tan calf, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, raised bands, brown and green morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers and edges. $1500.First edition of this comprehensive constitutional history of England, beautifully bound by Riviere.Â“A learned workÂ… which is worthy to rank with that of Hallam, of which it is in fact a continuationÂ” (DNB). Immensely popular in its own time, this work remains a favorite of modern scholars. HLC, 95. Rees, 238. Stephenson &amp; Marcham, 900. CBEL III:901. Bookplates of Edward Strutt, first Baron Belper, a member of Parliament who maintained close friendships with Jeremy Bentham and James and John Stuart Mill.Light foxing to preliminary and concluding pages, light rub to spine head of Volume II. A beautiful near-fine set.

Remy, Jules, and Julius BrenchleyA Journey to Great-Salt-Lake City, with a Sketch of the History, Religion, and Customs of the Mormons, and an Introduction on the Religious Movement in the United States W. Jeffs, London 1861 - 2 vol., 8vo; early custom re-bind into 3/4 maroon leather and maroon cloth; spines dec. in gilt with title, author, date and design; fold-out map and ten steel engravings; dec. eps; remains of two very small old seller's catalogue entries glued to ft pastedown of vol.I; dec eps; pp. cxxxi, 508, vii, 605, including 61pages of notes, a nine page Mormon bibliography, and a 35 page detailed index This is a very scarce early Mormon history including a record of the authors' travel from California. One of the plates is an exceedingly scarce portrayal of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Others include the Salt Lake Temple and Fillmore; Howes R210, Flake 6687 VG-NF; mild wear to edges of leather corners and bottom edges of bds; only the slightest rubbing to bds; prev. owner name written on half-title, vol I; very minimal wrinkle to lower, outer corner of title pg, vol.I, not affecting any of the print; hinges tight, plates beautiful and map likewise; virtually no foxing or toning to the pages. A truly lovely set of a very scarce work. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

Ives, Joseph CReport upon the Colorado River of the West, explored in 1857 and 1858 by Lieutenant Joseph C. IvesÃ¢Â&#128;Â¦ Government Printing Office, Washington 1861 - 4to original cloth with gilt cover vignette, rebacked with modern cloth, leather spine label, illustrated. Some staining and wear to covers, and occasional staining and soiling within. There are some stub tears to the maps, and a few of the folding plates are ill creased. Overall in very good shape and the Indian plates are quite bright. The Ives expedition was the first real study of the Colorado, which had as its main purpose to see to what extent the river was navigable. To accomplish this task, a steamer was made in Philadelphia and shipped in parts to San Francisco, where it was back hauled to Ives in pieces in Colorado. The Streeter catalogue indicates that the Ã¢Â&#128;Â&#156;Ives expedition went up the Colorado some 500 miles to the limit of navigation, then continued overland along the river. The expedition disbanded at Albuquerque after transversing some 900 miles. His account of the Tonto Apaches who lived in the canyon walls is of particular interest.Ã¢Â&#128;Â&#157; All in all, this is an exceptional survey with some great illustrations. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

MILL John StuartConsiderations on Representative Government 1861. First Edition . MILL, John Stuart. Considerations on Representative Government. London: Parker, Son, and Bourn, 1861. Octavo, original tan cloth, uncut. $4500.First edition of one of MillÂ’s most important political writings, building upon his On Liberty (1859), inscribed in a secretarial or publisher's hand on the half title: Â“From the Author,"" scarce in original cloth.In this seminal work ""John Stuart Mill discusses to what extent forms of government are a matter of choice, the criterion of a 'good form of government,' and explains his belief that representative government is the best form of government because it demands the most from its citizens and encourages their development. For this reason he commended the plan for proportional representationÂ… as 'among the very greatest improvements yet made in the theory and practice of government"" (Sabine 667). ""The influence which Mill's works exercised upon contemporary English thought can scarcely be overestimated. His own writings and those of his successors practically held the field during the third quarter of the 19th century and even laterÂ… Many of Mill's ideas are now the commonplaces of democracy. His arguments for freedom of every kind of thought or speech have never been improved on. He was the first to recognize the tendency of a democratically elected majority to tyrannize over a minority"" (PMM 345). Complete with half title and two leaves of publisher's advertisements. Interior about-fine. Lovely cloth with lightest rubbing and with a couple of minor stains, including inch and a half stain to rear board. A very good presentation copy.

[Letcher, John]Journal of the House of Delegates of the State of Virginia, for the Extra Session, 1861 [bound with] Doc. No. 1, Message of the Governor of Virginia and Accompanying Documents Richmond: William F. Ritchie, 1861. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. 8vo, pp. 321; lv. A near fine copy; recently rebound in quarter cloth with marbled boards, leather spine label. Records the proceedings of the Virginia House of Delegates from January 7 to April 4, 1861-that is, in the months leading up to Virginia's secession from the Union on April 17thof that year. Although primarily concerned with routine matters of state legislation and appropriations, this volume also offers a fascinating glimpse of the deliberations that occurred as other southern states seceded and Virginians wrestled with conflicting impulses to help preserve the Union and to assert their common interests with the seceders. On the very first day of the session, the assembly resolved "that the Union being formed by the assent of the sovereign states respectively, and being consistent only with freedom and republican institutions guaranteed to each, cannot and ought not to be maintained by force. That the government of the Union has no power to declare or make war against any of the states which have been its constituent members...that when any one or more of the states has determined or shall determine, under existing circumstances, to withdraw from the Union, we are unalterably opposed to any attempt on the part of the federal government to coerce the same into reunion or submission, and that we will resist the same by all means in our power." Just a few days later (January 15), they appointed commissioners "to open a correspondence with the governments of all the states, to ascertain on what terms, if upon any, the Union can be preserved; and if it cannot, then upon what terms and with what states a new confederacy can be formed, which will secure to the people the full enjoyment of all their rights." The January 7th address of Governor John Letcher which appears at the end of the volume offers a lengthy and interesting analysis of the relations between the states and the federal government, grievances of the southern states against the north, and considerations for Virginia in charting its path forward. Letcher condemned South Carolina for taking action without consulting the other slaveholding states, but also opposed allowing Federal troops to move through Virginia to suppress the rebellion. He called for a national convention to discussion options for compromise, optimistic that concessions could be won on issues such as the expansion of slavery into the territories and the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act. A month after he delivered his address, delegates from 14 free states and 7 slaveholding states met at the Washington Peace Conference of 1861, but the compromises they recommended failed to win approval in Congress.